Archived News:

Friday, Nov 10, 2017

The Decksplash website has word from
Bossa Studios that their experimental free
first-week launch of Decksplash was not a success. They offered a
no-cost early version of the skateboarding game with the goal of getting 100,000 players
to download it to prove there was enough interest for them to continue with the
project. The game didn't face-plant, but they did not hit that mark, so they are staying true to their word
and ending development:

Decksplash unfortunately didn't hit it's target
and production on the game will now stop.

We always knew that 100k was a big target, but it was the only way to make sure
the game was a viable product for both yourselves and us in the long term, now
we've gotten our answer.

We want to thank everyone who supported us during the Free Week and let you all
know that while this is the end of our story, we're glad we got to share it with
you.

The team working on Decksplash will now move onto other projects, taking the
knowledge gained from the past year to build an even better game.

At Bossa Studios we believe the best way to make games is to fail fast and move
on to bigger, better things rather than sinking time into a project without a
bright future.

So from all of us here in the Decksplash team, Thank you for your support and
we'll see you on our next big adventure!

Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)
announced that The Sims™ 4 Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack* is available worldwide on
PC and Mac, and that The Sims 4 is coming to Xbox One and PlayStation® 4
consoles on November 17th.

“Our team has been working hard to develop The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs and The Sims 4
on consoles, and we’re proud to offer rich and rewarding experiences across
multiple platforms to our incredible community,” said Maxis General Manager, Joe
Nickolls. “Providing fans with a variety of entry points into The Sims universe
is a huge priority for us, and we’re optimistic for the opportunities it
provides us to grow.”

With The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs, players can design their perfect pet with unique
features and personalities, while discovering new activities to enjoy in the
charming coastal shores of Brindleton Bay.

“We know how much the community loves their real-life cats and dogs, and we’re
so happy they can now bring their beloved four-legged companions into their
Sims’ world,” said Lyndsay Pearson, Executive Producer on The Sims. “Cats and
dogs have always been such a huge component to any Sims installment, and we’re
so excited to finally bring these lovable friends into The Sims 4.”

Frozenbyte announces a new free expansion is now available
on Steam
for the Windows edition of Has-Been Heroes, their lane-based roguelike. They
provide this as a gift to fans, and perhaps to draw attention to
Nine Parchments, their upcoming
"magical blast'em up," which is being developed by some of the same team that
created Has-Been Heroes. They provide
this trailer to
celebrate the release along with the following details:

The expansion
adds tons of new content for players to discover and includes the Trine heroes –
Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight, and Zoya the Thief – as playable
characters once you have unlocked the Epic Quest mode. The Epic Quest mode will
be a true test of skill for the most veteran players as the heroes have no
starting spells! Complete with custom animations (Amadeus attacks with a box!)
and beautiful 2D visuals in the style of Has-Been Heroes, the Trine heroes
definitely need to perform some heroic deeds to complete this quest from another
universe!

The expansion also adds a new region to the main game called the Sky Temple.
Each Sky Temple run will include unique twists, new enemies and new bosses!

Updates to the main game include:

8 Young Heroes to unlock

New "Sky Temple" region

120+ new spells

150+ new items

For players looking for another challenge, the expansion pack also brings two
new game modes: “Challenge Mode” and “Seed Mode.” Challenge mode is a single
difficult battle with pre-set loadout of characters, items, and spells. By
completing a Challenge players unlock a new Young Hero. Seed mode allows players
to share a seed number with friends and play the exact same game/run with a
timer upon completion. Use this to host a competition between you and your
friends and compare strategy.

In The Hideaway, the second story of Secrets of The Maw,
The Runaway Kid wakes up in the engine area of The Maw, a dark and grimy place
populated by Nomes.

Highlighted in an all new video revealed today, the Runaway Kid will have to
find and rescue the Nomes, to escape from this gloomy place. These curious
creatures have a secret but they can help as well to overcome all obstacles!
Where are all these Nomes coming from? What secrets are buried in their nest?
This second story introduces more complex puzzle mechanics that will require you
to work with the Nomes and a hub-like layout to let you have more freedom for
exploration.

Electronic Arts announces the launch of Need for Speed Payback for Windows,
Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. This
launch trailer offers
a look at the game's high-octane, open-world action, and the announcement fills
in lots of details:

Today, Ghost GamesTM and Electronic Arts Inc.
(NASDAQ:EA) announced Need for Speed Payback, one of the world’s bestselling
video game franchises, is available worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and
Origin for PC. With deeper customization, a diverse open world and blockbuster
action moments never-before seen in the franchise, Need for Speed Payback
delivers an edge-of-your-seat experience that will have players living out their
ultimate action driving fantasy.

“Two years ago, we reinvigorated the franchise by listening to what our fans
wanted and built a game that returned to the Need for Speed core tenets- fast
cars, deep customization, and epic cop chases. With Need for Speed Payback,
we’ve raised the bar by adding Hollywood-style, adrenaline-fueled action, a huge
open world, even more customization options, and a narrative that drives
gameplay forward,” said Executive Producer Marcus Nilsson. “We’re excited to
deliver a new driving experience that not only delivers everything our players
love about the series but also pushes the boundaries of what they’ve come to
expect from the genre.”

Set in the gambler’s paradise of Fortune Valley, players can drive as three
different characters: Tyler, the racer, Mac, the showman, and Jess, the
wheelman, each with their own distinct driving style. Together, they go up
against The House, a nefarious cartel that runs the city’s underground. Drift up
and down mountain roads, tear up the desert terrain, speed through the city,
complete insane heist missions and earn enough of a reputation on the streets to
get revenge in the ultimate race to take down The House.

With cars at the center of everything in Need for Speed Payback, Derelicts bring
all-new and unique customization options. Take a scrap chassis found on the side
of the road and turn it into a supercar dream machine. Five unique car classes
bring endless tuning opportunities for players to specialize their ride and
leave challengers in the dust during Racing, Off Road, Drifting, Drag or Runner
missions.

Epic cop chases bring even more heat to the road in Need for Speed Payback.
Smarter police mean it’ll take more skill to escape and fend off new
reinforcement vehicles like Rhinos and Helicopters. Feeling confident? Take a
chance on Bait Crates in the open world, which award players mysterious
performance upgrades if they can escape an on-the-spot cop chase.

Need for Speed Payback is rated ‘T’ for Teen by the ESRB and is available today
for $59.99 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Origin™ for PC. For more information
please visit
www.ea.com/games/Need-for-Speed.

Steam News announces
that Football Manager 2018 is now available
on
Steam for Windows, macOS, and Linux, offering the latest installment in this
sports management series, which had been in early access beta. There's also the
chance to kick this around for free, as a playable demo is also offered (thanks
Frans).
Steam also offers the separate release of Football Manager Touch 2018 for
the same platforms, offering a simplified approach to the game. This carries a
lower price, but is also included in the full game, and there's a playable demo
for that as well. Here's word:

They say football is a game of opinions
and everyone has theirs, but it’s only yours that counts around here.

You make the decisions now, from who you sign and who you sell, to how you
manage your budget. Will you build tactics around the players at your disposal
or train them in your vision of how the game should be played? Who you pick and
who you bench will affect squad harmony, and it’s up to you to manage it. Every
decision comes back to you.

Get it right and you’ll be the star of the show, grabbing the newspaper
headlines and dominating trends on social media. They’ll write your name in
footballing folklore…if you succeed, of course.

With unparalleled choices both on and off the pitch, all within the immersive
footballing world, it’s time to decide what kind of manager do you want to be?

Try your hand in 50 of the biggest footballing
countries

Win the title with any one of world’s top 2500
clubs

Play the transfer market with over 600,000 real
players and staff

Watch your football vision come to life before
your very eyes

All purchases of Football Manager 2018 also include a free copy of Football
Manager Touch 2018 for PC/Mac and Linux.

THQ Nordic announces the release of Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy for
Windows, macOS, and Linux on
GOG.com or
Steam with a 34% launch discount. It's been a long road out of the desert
for this title, as it originally came out in 2003/2004 for PlayStation 2,
GameCube, and Xbox. While we're sure details of this 15 year-old action
adventure remain fresh in your mind, we'll offer
a trailer and a refresher just in case:
"Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy is an original 3rd person action-adventure inspired
by the mythology of ancient Egypt. Travelling the world via magical portals to
foil the evil plans of Set. Sphinx's Journey will require all his wits, agility,
and special powers. He will also rely on his reluctant hero friend, The Mummy,
to help when being inconspicuous is the only solution. By finding the stolen
magical crowns of Egypt, Sphinx can stop Set and save the world." Here's word on
the overhaul this has received for modern systems:

Full list of things
that have been worked on for this release:

Support for arbitrary resolutions and widescreen
(HD, 4K and beyond), native multi-sampling anti-aliasing (MSAA) and
anisotropic filtering (AF) for crisp details at 60 frames per second.

Rewritten 3D graphics engine in portable and
modern OpenGL 3+, based on the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions,
supporting volumetric soft particles.

Nexon announces the acquisition of Pixelberry Studios, a "leading developer
in interactive narrative mobile games."
They also announce "record breaking" third quarter results. Here are some
details that also touch on their new studio:

“Nexon had another very strong quarter with consistently strong performances
in our core markets,” said Owen Mahoney, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Nexon. “Long-running successes like MapleStory and Dungeon&Fighter, along with
sustained engagement on FIFA Online 3 and FIFA Online 3 M, validate our model of
making games that last for years and decades.

“Looking forward, we’re pleased to work with EA on FIFA Online 4, the sequel
to FIFA Online 3, which has continued its growth and success since it launched
in 2013,” Mahoney added. “Our western mobile studios continue to grow with our
strategic acquisition of Pixelberry Studios – a developer which leads the
interactive fiction category and expands our reach with the deeply underserved
female audience. Our continued goal is to build and launch new experiences that
are not just highly engaging to keep players coming back for years, but also
creative and unique, separating our games from a saturated marketplace. We are
also very excited as we look ahead to our robust pipeline for the fourth
quarter, which will see the full launch of MapleStory2 in China, where we
already have strong early indicators, as well as launches of OVERHIT and
others.”

THQ Nordic announces that Painkiller and Painkiller: Battle out of Hell are
no longer indexed in Germany, and can be sold there in their uncensored forms.
Both first-person shooters had been deemed too violent for the country's strict
standards, but they are no longer considered menaces to society They offer
this trailer with 14
seconds of hype on the news, and say they are continuing to battle the
authorities to free up other games in their catalogue:

After we were able
to remove Red Faction I to III from the German list of media harmful to young
persons (aka "ZE INDEX") in late 2015, early 2016, respectively, THQ Nordic
celebrates yet another success. Last month already, our application to waive the
blacklisting decision of the first Painkiller game (demo version) was
successful. However, by yesterday’s decision of the regulator, the uncensored
version of Painkiller (full version) and Painkiller Battle out of Hell have also
been shoved off ZE INDEX in a totally non-violent manner.

Numerous discussions, a team of relentless lawyers, perseverance and a dash of
black magic (OK, who are we kiddin', the Stake Gun came in quite handy, too)
were required to achieve said result.

After the incredible news of yet another removal from the list, THQ Nordic is
(again) in (youth-free) party mode knowing that the Vienna-based team will be
having further discussions with the BPjM (Federal Department for Media Harmful
to Young Persons): “We will of course still be nurturing our extensive games
portfolio, and will do what it takes to ensure that gamers can play our games in
the future.” says everyone here at THQ Nordic. "We can still celebrate “small”
successes like this, even if more than a decade later!"

Things have been very mild around these parts so far this fall, but that seems
about to change. The forecast is calling for it to drop well below freezing
tonight, which will be the first frost since spring. This seems awfully late in
the season for this, but I don't keep track of such things, so it may actually
be normal. Anyway, it's a little odd, since it hasn't been as low as 32ºF before
now, but it's possible tonight it will reach below 20ºF.